Ahead of the launch, North Korea had sent missile scientists and equipment in late November to some Asian nations, like China, Mongolia and Indonesia,

"It appears that the equipment set up in China and Mongolia is aimed at tracking the satellite," a spokesman said. "Because the satellite circles very fast, it briefly passes through North Korea. Therefore, several regions need antennas to track it.

The successful construction of the centre provided a solid springboard for continued launch of various working satellites essential for the country's sci-tech and economic development and national defence.

He went to the room for the education.

He noted that the main room for real-time display of satellite launch, auxiliary display and control room and optical observation room were built to meet the scientific and technological requirements and the visitor's room is very convenient to watching satellite launch.

E-library, lounge, conference room, offices, dinning room and bedrooms are well built to provide the scientists and technicians with enough conditions for their research and living.

He stressed the need to provide more cutting-edge facilities for the centre, build a base in which satellite test can be done.

Peaceful space development is an option taken.

Satellites of Korea will as ever be launched into outer space at the time and locations set by the Central Committee.

Korea develops new high-altitude weather observation systems. The system consists of electronic radio detectors and high altitude weather radar. Weather balloons carrying electronic detectors can climb at altitudes up to 30,000 meters, measuring temperature and atmospheric pressure.

The system makes it possible to further raise the accuracy of weather forecast.

The Presidium of the Supreme People's Assembly of the DPRK decided to set the standard time of the Republic with 127 degrees 30 minutes east longitude as a standard and to apply it from August 15.

The thirty minutes between 24:00, August 14 of the previous time and 00:00, August 15 of Pyongyang time will be taken off to set 00:00 of August 15 of the previous time as 00:30 and all clocks would be set as "00:00, August 15, Pyongyang time" at 00:30, August 15 of previous time.

At 00:00, the Pyongyang Bell tolled deep sound at state standard time 00:00 at the Pyongyang Astronomical Observatory,...scientists working on satellites to explore a new area of conquering space and all other people of the country set their clock and watches according to Pyongyang time

This new Pyongyang Time will definitely bring North Korea closer to Beijing and Tehran.

In addition, the synchronization with Iran is made much easier, as Tehran Time is UTC+03:30 and Pyongyang Time UTC+08:30 instead of the UTC+09:00. All this, to the benefit of both nations' space programs.

S☫heil

DPRK NADA Joins International Astronautical Federation

Oct. 16, Juche 104 (2015) Friday

The DPRK National Aerospace Development Administration's (NADA) admission to the International Astronautical Federation was decided at its 66th general meeting which opened in Israel on Oct. 12 and will last till Oct. 16.

Rodong News Team

NADA IAF membership void

16 October 2015

The General Assembly in its second session revoked its earlier resolution of Monday, October 12, 2015, relating to the approval of the DPR Koreas National Aerospace Development Administrations application for membership to the IAF, based on new information received and unknown to the General Assembly at its first session.

The DPRK acceded to the agreement on the rescue of astronauts, the return of astronauts and the return of objects launched into outer space and the convention on international liability for damage caused by space objects on February 22, Juche 105 (2016), according to the decision of its government.The agreement concluded on April 22, 1968 stipulates the issue of handing over to the launch nation any astronaut, space objects and their parts as they fall or are discovered in the territorial land and waters of a signatory country and open sea.The convention concluded on March 29, 1972 undertakes a launch nation to make responsible compensation when space objects caused human or property losses on the earth surface or caused damage to a plane in flight.The DPRK's accession to the agreement and the convention will further promote the international trust in space scientific researches and activities and make positive contributions to strengthening cooperation with other countries.

The Iranian satellite carrier Safir-2A is the first version of Safir-2 with the name of Simorgh [Korean name: Unha]. Its length is 26 m, its diameter is around 2.5m and its weight is around 86 tons. Its thrust is around 143 tons. It can put 100 kg satellites into 500 km altitude orbits.

The next step is Safir-3A or Sepehr [unknown Korean name: Puktusong] and Safir-3B or Sarir that can put 1,000 kg satellites into 1,000km altitude orbits. By adding micro thrusters and several side boosters, the Sarir heavy launcher can put payloads into 36,000 km altitude orbits. It is expected to be build during the fifth development program of the country.

The length of the strap-on rocket boosters are less than a third of the total rocket length. Rocket possibly made of 3 stages; alternately made of two stages plus a manned spacecraft with Re-entry Vehicle, Service Module and Orbital Module in shroud.

Videos also show the rear bottom part of the launcher, revealing the exact number of rocket engines in the first stage...

In a nutshell, this new launcher might be very similar in conception and performance with the Chinese CZ-2F.

According to past practice, where ballistic missiles are named after Mars (Hwasong), submarine-launched ballistic missile (SLBM) after Polaris (Pukguksong), launchers after famous mountain (Paektusan) or the Milky Way (Unha), one can speculate that a future heavy launcher could be named after some bright celestial objects like notable constellations, such as Ursa Major. Thus Puktusong (북두성; 北斗星), instead of the obviously unlikely Unha-X. Alternately, Aurora seems to be one of the most popular name among spacefaring powers (Dawn, Shuguang, Fajr, Zarya), therefore Saepyek (새벽; 曙光) would be a well inspired choice, even suitable for any future Korean spacecraft or satellite!

A man-rated Safir-1D could be a further development of the Safir-1 class, by increasing its reliability through the addition of redundancy of various critical sub-systems.

A Safir-2D could be based on the Safir-2A first stage core, powered by four 37 tons thrust liquid fuel engines and 4 vernier engines.An addition of a total of four 37 tons thrust strap-on boosters would double its lift-off thrust.Each strap-on booster might be powered by a single liquid fuel Shahab-3/Rodong uprated engine of 37-tons thrust.This launcher could be adapted to support a manned orbital E1 mission, as the Safir-2D, similar to the Chinese Shuguang-1 and CZ-2A, with only a few orbits and a single astronaut.

A Safir-3D could be based on the Safir-3A first stage core, powered by four 80 tons thrust liquid fuel engines and 4 vernier engines.An addition of a total of four 80 tons thrust strap-on boosters would double its lift-off thrust.The second stage could be powered by a single modified 80 tons thrust engine and four vernier engines.The Safir-3D could easily launch the two seaters E2 spacecraft made of two modules, the propulsion module of 2.5 tons and the Reentry module of 2.5 tons, as well as a speculative three seaters E3 spacecraft, augmented with another orbital module, similar to the Shenzhou spacecraft.

Iran Plans to Start Work on Two New Engines for Satellite Carrier Rockets

Date and Time:15:53 | 2013-02-11

The Iranian Ministry of Science, Research and Technology approved two major national projects in the fields of research and technology, which include designing and developing two new engines for the countrys satellite carrier rockets.

Two macro-scale national projects have been added to the 38 major national projects already underway in the country and the executive operations for these two plans are being carried out now, Deputy Minister of Science, Research and Technology for Research Affairs Mohammad Mahdinejad Nouri told reporters on Monday.

He said the projects include manufacturing engines for satellite carrier rockets and devising a paradigm for the governing system.

As regards the new rocket engines, Mahdinejad Nouri said Iranian universities, including Sharif, Amirkabir, Tabriz and Mashhads Ferdowsi University will participate in the 5-year project.

Navid Composite was contracting with Asia-based entities to procure a carbon fiber production line in order to produce carbon fiber probably suitable for use in ballistic missile components.

The Shahid Hemmat Industrial Group (SHIG) also coordinates KOMID shipments to Iran. The shipments have included valves, electronics, and measuring equipment suitable for use in ground testing of liquid propellant ballistic missiles and space launch vehicles. Within the past several years, Iranian missile technicians from SHIG traveled to North Korea to work on an 80-ton rocket booster being developed by the North Korean government.

Farahi and Nooshin have been critical to the development of the 80-ton rocket booster, and both traveled to Pyongyang during contract negotiations.

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, visited the Sohae Space Center to guide the ground jet test of a new type high-power engine of a carrier rocket for the geo-stationary satellite.

The newly developed high-power engine is a single engine whose thrust is 80 tf.

The test was aimed to make a final confirmation of the feature of combustion chamber, operation accuracy of valves and control systems and structural reliability of the engine during 200 seconds-long working time.

Kim Jong Un issued an order to conduct the test.

The moment the engine spewed out huge flames with deafening sound.

The test showed that thrust and other technological indexes of the engine accurately reached the estimated values and the feature values of all systems of the engine remained stable throughout the working time.

The successful manufacture of the engine provided a firm scientific and technological guarantee for developing and completing the carrier rocket for geo-stationary satellite during the 5-year program for national aerospace development and made it possible to acquire sufficient carrier capability for launching various kinds of satellites including earth observation satellite at a world level.

He expressed great satisfaction over the results of the test and highly praised the officials and scientists and technicians of the National Aerospace Development Administration for having successfully and devotedly carried out the task given by the Party in a short span of time.

The space science and technology and the space industry are an important barometer for estimating the national power, he said, calling for more dynamically paving the avenue to space conquest by conducting in real earnest the work for developing the space in order to fulfill the 5-year program for national aerospace development.

The development and use of space are an important policy of our Party and an important work for which the state should make sustained efforts, he said, adding that the National Aerospace Development Administration should carry out the space development with a main emphasis on the satellite development and manufacture and launch more satellites for different uses by indigenous efforts and technology and thus turn our country into a possessor of geostationary satellites in a couple of years to come.

Noting that thanks to the implementation of the Party's line of prioritizing science and technology world-startling unprecedented miraculous successes have been made in the field of cutting-edge science and technology including space technology despite the difficult economic conditions of the country, he requested the officials, scientists and technicians to round off the preparations for launching the satellite as soon as possible on the basis of the successful test and thus bring the news of greater victory to the people who have steadfastly lived and struggled under the leadership of the Party, unwaveringly trusting it, though they have fastened their belts owing to the enemies' harsh sanctions and moves to stifle the DPRK.

With four 80-ton thrust main engines, 1 four chamber steering engine, and four additional 80-ton thrust strap-on boosters, the first stage of a future Korean manned space launcher could easily develop more than 640 tons of thrust at liftoff, enough for a 400 tons launcher.

In comparison, the Chinese CZ-2F has a mass of about 498.4 tons and its four 75 tons thrust main engines and four 75 tons thrust strap-on boosters develop a total of 592.3 ton thrust at liftoff, able to put a 8.60 tons spacecraft into LEO.

International reactions

2016-9-20 15:52

This 80 tons thrust engine has surpassed the Chinese CZ-2 class' engines and also the future South Korean 75 tons thrust engine.What a slap in the face of the imperialists!

Kim Jong Un, chairman of the Workers' Party of Korea, chairman of the State Affairs Commission of the DPRK and supreme commander of the Korean People's Army, watched the ground jet test of Korean-style high-thrust engine newly developed by the Academy of the National Defence Science. After being told about the production of the new-type high-thrust engine, he personally visited the Sohae Satellite Launching Ground at dawn to learn in detail about the technical specifications of the engine and preparations for the test and guided it. The test was conducted to confirm the overall technical indices of the engine such as features of thrust power in the combustion chamber, accurate movement of turbine pump, control system and various valves and their structural safety and reliability. He mounted an observation post and gave an order to start the test. The results of the test confirmed the stable maintenance of technical indices of all systems such as starting and stopping features of a new-type high-thrust engine of Korean style designed and manufactured by the defense scientists and technicians by their own efforts and with indigenous technology, the features of the thrust power in the combustion chamber, turbine pump, control systems in the whole course of engine operation after accurately reaching the expected values, and the perfect guarantee of their structural reliability. . He noted that the success made in the current test marked a great event of historic significance as it declared a new birth of the Juche-based rocket industry which has radically turned into a development-and creation-oriented industry both in name and in reality by completely doing away with dogmatism, conservatism and formalism left in the field of rocket industry and the dependence on the technology of other countries. He emphasized that the whole world will soon witness what eventful significance the great victory won today carries. The development and completion of a new-type high-thrust engine would help consolidate the scientific and technological foundation to match the world-level satellite delivery capability in the field of outer space development, he noted, adding with pleasure that today when a great leaping forward has been made in the development of the rocket industry is the day to be always remembered, a historic day which can be called "March 18 revolution". He said that the field of munitions industry made a series of unprecedented successes this year as it did last year, instilling dynamism into the grand revolutionary advance of all the service personnel and people. Then he had a significant photo session with the officials, scientists and technicians in the field of defense science who took part in the test. He was accompanied by Ri Pyong Chol, Kim Jong Sik and other leading officials of the C.C. the WPK and scientists and technicians in the field of rocket research.

The Safir-1 LV's second stage disclosed in 2008 is designed with two vernier engines.

The second stage of the Safir-2A disclosed in 2015 is powered by four vernier engines, developing a total of 7.2 tons of thrust.

The second stage of a Safir-3/[North Korean name?] could be powered by a single modified 80 tons thrust engine and four vernier engines, all feeded by a single common turbopump.The single longer exhaust pipe is also fitted with its own expansion nozzle to further increase the overall thrust, feature first introduced in 2010 on the Safir-1B's second stage, and present in all follow-up LVs such as the 2015 Safir-2A's second stage.

Possibly second occurence of an official depiction of the North Korean 3-modules manned orbital spacecraft (first revealed in February 2016), on the occasion of the 21st Annual Kimjongilia Festival, held at the Kimilsungia-Kimjongilia Exhibition House in Pyongyang, on February 14-21, 2017.

Previous Annual Kimjongilia Festivals have been notorious for the exhibition of scale models ranging from the Unha-3, Unha-9, Hwasong-13 and Pukguksong-1.

This new spacecraft shows obvious similarities with the Chinese Project 921 Shenzhou spacecraft with a pair of solar power panels on both the service module and the orbital module.

First animated depiction in a March 9, 2017 video of a manned orbital 3-modules spacecraft, with one pair of solar panels on the service module, similar to the Chinese Project 863 manned orbital spacecraft.Very brief, fuzzy and stealthy four seconds only sequence.

Mar 9, 2017 Video

https://www.youtube....h?v=I-40y8aIPTUVideo published on Mar 9, 2017 showing manned spacecraft and 8 more unknown satellite models.At T=15s to T=19s: manned orbital 3-modules spacecraft, with one pair of solar panels on the service module, similar to the Chinese Project 863 manned orbital spacecraft.

Laboratorial Production of High-Temperature Ceramic Nanofibers in Iran

Thu Aug 06, 2015 3:45

Researchers at Space Transportation System Department of Iran's Space Research Center succeeded in the laboratorial production of ceramic nanofibers made of cheap and biocompatible raw materials with very high melting point.

Today, there is a need for a type of material that is resistant to temperatures higher than 2,000°C for a long time in addition to having the ability to work at oxide and corrosive atmospheres in the production of thermal shields, cutting devices, turbines, melting bushes and storage of molten metals.

Nanofibers have advantages over nanoparticles, including perfect resistance to severe thermal shock, higher ability to endure dynamic load, and higher fracture toughness. Therefore, the researchers tried to synthesize zirconium diboride as a high temperature ceramic with nanofibrous structure.

There are different methods to synthesize zirconium diboride such as solid-state reaction, electrochemical reaction and mechanical methods. However, there are some problems in the production of these materials, including high temperature of synthesis, long production time, low purity and relatively large particle size.

In this research, zirconium diboride nanofibers were synthesized by using a gel containing raw materials and molecular dimensions and by electrospinning of the produced sol through carbothermal reduction. Cheap and eco-friendly raw materials have been used in the production of the nanofibers. The application of cheap precursors without the need for pre-preparation and reducing the temperature of thermal processing decrease the cost and pollution during the synthesis.

Results of the research have been published in Ceramics International, vol. 41, issue 5, 2015, pp. 6905-6911.